Cape Town anti-privatisation march interdicted!

Dear Comrades around the world

This is an urgent call for solidarity e-mails to be sent to Cape
Metropolitan Councils bosses. SAMWU was to march tomorrow at 10am
against the privatisation plans sweeping the city, but was interdicted 20
minutes ago. The union believes that this is a direct attack on the rights of
communities and workers to participate in the transformation of their
own city.

NGO's and Community organisations that were going to attend the march,
said that they saw the upcoming NGO-union opposition to the new round of the
World Trade Organisation in Seattle next week as part of the struggle against the privatisation of municipal services.

It would help the union and the city enormously if short messages of
protest could be e-mailed to council bosses. There is a long list of their
e-mail addresses below - all that is needed is for you to copy and paste these into the to: bar.

In the attached e-mail you can read the bosses letter warning of action
against SAMWU members that were to take part in the strike.

For your further information, the union has just released this press
statement:

Wednesday November 24th, 1999 4pm

An anti-privatisation march of about 18 thousand members of the SA
Municipal Workers Union and several non-governmental organisations opposed to
privatisation has been interdicted by the Cape Metro Councils. The march is
being postponed until further notice.

The march, which was to protest the exclusion of labour from the Metro
Commission on the Unicity, was to have taken place tomorrow in Cape
Town. The SA Municipal Workers Union was angered that in all other Metro
cities, labour has a seat on the commission but unions have not been included
in Cape Town. The Unicity will entail a major restructuring of the entire
city, of which SAMWU is a major stakeholder, yet the union is being sidelined
from the process.

The Union is also angered that Metro bosses have decided to use the
unicity as an excuse to propose privatisation of many council services.
Although the union has been engaged in negotiations with council bosses for months
now, they are pushing ahead with privatisations not agreed in the
negotiations.

SAMWU sees the interdict as an attempt by council bosses to crush
visible public opposition to the sale of city services. The ambitious
privatisation plans have never been discussed with the community or workers. SAMWU's
earlier call for a moratorium on privatisation until negotiations had
been exhausted has been ignored by Council bosses.

This is the same anti-worker attitude adopted by Johannesburg employers
in their unilateral implementation of iGoli 2002, which has also been
strongly opposed by SAMWU.
..../ends

HERE ARE THE BOSSES E-MAIL ADDRESSES:
AllenC@tygerberg.gov.za; AndrewsM@tygerberg.gov.za;
AnthonyD@tygerberg.gov.za Arrowsms@tygerberg.gov.za;
BadenhoJ@tygerberg.gov.za; BarnardJ@tygerberg.gov.za; ;
BarrierA@tygerberg.gov.za ;BassonJ@tygerberg.gov.za
;BesterR@tygerberg.gov.za ;BicknelB@tygerberg.gov.za
BLHPOST.GroblerK@tygerberg.gov.za ;BlomS@tygerberg.gov.za
BoshoffH@tygerberg.gov.za ; BougaarB@tygerberg.gov.za ;
BraafN@tygerberg.gov.za BrandA@tygerberg.gov.za ;
BrandH@tygerberg.gov.za
;BrinkP@tygerberg.gov.za; BrownE@tygerberg.gov.za
;CarlsE@tygerberg.gov.za
;CoetzeeD@tygerberg.gov.za ;CoetzeeW@tygerberg.gov.za
;CrafforI@tygerberg.gov.za ;DanielsE@tygerberg.gov.za
;DavidsC@tygerberg.gov.za; DebeerJM@tygerberg.gov.za
;DeKrielC@tygerberg.gov.za DJonghDW@tygerberg.gov.za
;dKockR@tygerberg.gov.za ;DLBatG@tygerberg.gov.za ;
DToitE@tygerberg.gov.za;
DuPlessP@tygerberg.gov.za ;DVillieW@tygerberg.gov.za
;Dwittc@tygerberg.gov.za ;EssopH@tygerberg.gov.za
;FarmerD@tygerberg.gov.za
; GeldenhJ@tygerberg.gov.za ;GouwsI@tygerberg.gov.za
;GreeffR@tygerberg.gov.za ;GrieselA@tygerberg.gov.za
;GroenewA@tygerberg.gov.za ;HamannE@tygerberg.gov.za
;hendricn@tygerberg.gov.za ;HumanO@tygerberg.gov.za
;HuysameK@tygerberg.gov.za ;HuysamerA@tygerberg.gov.za
;JacksonC@tygerberg.gov.za ;JacobsES@tygerberg.gov.za
;JamneckG@tygerberg.gov.za ;JefthaJ@tygerberg.gov.za
;JoosteS@tygerberg.gov.za ;KoopmanB@tygerberg.gov.za
;KotzeEM@tygerberg.gov.za ;KrugerH@tygerberg.gov.za
;KrugerK@tygerberg.gov.za ;LackayH@tygerberg.gov.za
;LambrecE@tygerberg.gov.za ;LateganB@tygerberg.gov.za
;LaubschL@tygerberg.gov.za ;LermD@tygerberg.gov.za
LerouxC@tygerberg.gov.za
;LewisC@tygerberg.gov.za ;LouwD@tygerberg.gov.za
'LucasD@tygerberg.gov.za
;MakadamA@tygerberg.gov.za ;MaraisC@tygerberg.gov.za
;MareeS@tygerberg.gov.za ;MbizelaZ@tygerberg.gov.za
;MederK@tygerberg.gov.za
;MulderP@tygerberg.gov.za ;NdunaD@tygerberg.gov.za
;NiemandM@tygerberg.gov.za ;OdendaaS@tygerberg.gov.za
;OlivieWJ@tygerberg.gov.za ;PeterseC@tygerberg.gov.za
;PretorC@tygerberg.gov.za ;PretoriK@tygerberg.gov.za
;PretoriR@tygerberg.gov.za ;PURENP@tygerberg.gov.za
;RobinsoT@tygerberg.gov.za ;SchlemmG@tygerberg.gov.za
;SchultzR@tygerberg.gov.za ;ShaibuI@tygerberg.gov.za
;SiewertM@tygerberg.gov.za ;SolomonP@tygerberg.gov.za
;TREDOUXA@tygerberg.gov.za ;UysJ@tygerberg.gov.za
;ValentiD@tygerberg.gov.za
;VDMerweB@tygerberg.gov.za ;VenterL@tygerberg.gov.za
;VisserT@tygerberg.gov.za ;VollenhA@tygerberg.gov.za
;VZylF@tygerberg.gov.za; VZYLH@tygerberg.gov.za ;
WasoD@tygerberg.gov.za;
WesselsE@tygerberg.gov.za; WheelerN@tygerberg.gov.za;
WitteS@tygerberg.gov.za; WolfaarH@tygerberg.gov.za;
ZeelieY@tygerberg.gov.za; dBeerR@tygerberg.gov.za

Please also copy your e-mails to these journalists:
Cape Times buntyw@ctn.independent.co.za
Cape Argus andreaw@ctn.independent.co.za
SAPA angela@sapa.org.za
SABC teladiasa@sabc.co.za
Business Report fnx@star.argus.co.za
Business Day xundux@tml.co.za

Many thanks comrades, this will really help SAMWU. If you want any
further information please do not hesitate to e-mail me.

Comradely regards.
Anna Weekes
SAMWU Media Officer
on behalf of the Cape Metro branch